GUANS, CURASSOWS, AND CHACHALACAS   -   CRACIDAE

Gray-headed Chachalaca Ortalis cinereiceps Rancho Naturalista, Cartago province, Costa Rica. They are as common as chickens here! (D3)

Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula vetula East of Catemaco, Veracruz state, Mexico. This species is the only cracid to reach the US, occurring in the Rio Grande valley of southern Texas. (S5)

White-bellied Chachalaca Ortalis leucogastra Northwest of Mapastepec, Chiapas state, Mexico. (S5)

Bearded Guan Penelope barbata Cerro Toledo, Loja province, Ecuador. Endemic to a small area of the Andes in southern Ecuador and northern Peru. (D3)

Crested Guan Penelope purpurascens aequatorialis Hotel Villa Lapis, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica. (D3)

Cauca Guan Penelope perspicax La Suiza, Risaralda department, Colombia. Once thought to be on the brink of extinction, this big guan has made a hug comeback in this area, where a group of municipal and private reserves protect over 500 hectares of cloudforest. (D3)

White-winged Guan Penelope albipennis Quebrada Limon, Lambayeque department, Peru. The white in the wing is usually only visible in flight. A critically endangered species, though it has been making a comeback thanks to a captive breeding and reintroduction program. (D2)

Dusky-legged Guan Penelope obscura bronzina Hotel do Ypê, Itatiaia NP, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The ones around the hotel are bordering on tame, since they put food out for them every day. This bird was so close that I had to settle for a head shot! (D3)

White-crested Guan Penelope pileata Serra dos Carajás, Pará state, Brazil. Very few photos exist (that were taken in the wild) of this rare and local species. It inhabits remote areas of the eastern Amazon. (D3)

Chestnut-bellied Guan Penelope ochrogaster Fazenda Santa Tereza, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. While this bird probably occurs in Bolivia, I haven't heard of any records from there yet, so it still qualifies as a Brazilian endemic. It is most easily seen in the Pantanal. (D4)

Black-fronted Piping-Guan Pipile jacutinga Carlos Botelho SP, São Paulo state, Brazil. Awful photo, I know, but it's such a rare and endangered species that I included it anyway. It was once quite widespread, but now can be found in only few parks and reserves in the southern Atlantic Forest. (D2)

Blue-throated Piping-Guan Pipile cumanensis grayi Araras Ecolodge (in the Pantanal), Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Photographed from the observation tower. The northern Pantanal is a hybridation zone between Blue-throated and Red-throated (P. cujubi) Piping-Guans. Many, if not most, individuals show a mix of blue and red in their wattles. This one looked to be pure blue. (D4)

Highland Guan Penelopina nigra Lagos de Montebello, Chiapas state, Mexico. A monotypic genus found from southern Mexico to Nicaragua. (S5)

Razor-billed Curassow Mitu tuberosum Manu Wildlife Center, Madre de Dios department, Peru. It was going to roost, and we had to spotlight it in order to photograph it. (D2)

Blue-billed Curassow Crax alberti El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Male. Another critically endangered species, and one of the rarest birds I've ever photographed. Thanks to a new reserve established by ProAves Colombia, this species now has a spark of hope. (D3)

Blue-billed Curassow Crax alberti El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Another shot of the same bird that shows the shape of the bill better. (D3)

Bare-faced Curassow Crax fasciolata fasciolata Pousada Piuval (Pantanal lodge), Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Male. Probably the easiest of all the curassows to see. In much of the Pantanal they are no longer hunted, thanks to the growth of ecotourism, and at many lodges they have become rather common. (D1)

Bare-faced Curassow Crax fasciolata Pousada Piuval (Pantanal lodge), Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Female. The mate of the bird in the previous photo. (D1)

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